Northeastern Ontario passenger rail plan soon to roll out

The last Northlander train left The Station in North Bay Sept. 28, 2012. As Ontario Northland Transportation Commission workers, union representatives, elected officials and residents gathered in protest, the train departed for the last time on its way to Cochrane. Nugget file photo

Passenger rail service could be serving northeastern Ontario by next year, if all the pieces fall into place.

Eric Boutilier, founder of the advocacy group All Aboard Northern Ontario, says he and a consultant hired to examine the viability of the plan have been meeting with provincial representatives since the election in June.

The new passenger service, to be called Northeast Lynx, would be an integrated service that uses Ontario Northland buses to bring outlying passengers to the train, which will then connect with Metrolinx’s mass-transit system in the Greater Toronto Area.

The concept is similar to how GO Transit and TTC connect.

“We met with (Nipissing MPP and provincial finance minister) Vic (Fedeli) . . . and he has repeated on a number of occasions that this is something the province is committed to doing in its mandate,” Boutilier says.

“We are trying to steer the government in the right direction,” he says, with costing set out to get the train service up and running from Toronto to Cochrane.

A public report is expected to be unveiled later this month or in early November, “respecting the budget that the government campaigned on” to restore the service that was eliminated in 2012 by the former Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty.

Boutilier calls it a “conceptual plan” that adheres to the parameters set out by Doug Ford during the provincial campaign.

“It’s something that makes sense,” Boutilier says.

Rail consultant Greg Gormick, who is preparing and fine-tuning the plan, says it will outline the startup and annual operating costs of the venture, as well as identify the rolling stock and infrastructure necessary to reinstate the service.

“This is something that is so obviously required,” he says. “The train should never have been taken away.”

It won’t be cheap, though, Gormick warns.

One of the pricier components, he says, is reaching a deal with CN Rail to access a section of Bala Subdivision track between Richmond Hill and Washago.

Gormick’s proposal is to connect two sidings to create a 21-kilometre double-track section at an estimated cost of $30 million.

If an agreement can be reached on that section, he says, Ontario Northland would negotiate a train service agreement with CN.

Connecting Ontario Northland buses to the train is a key component of the Northeast Lynx passenger service plan.Supplied Photo

The service would use conventional technology and techniques, he says, and would be phased in over several years.

“The most important thing is to get something out there,” Gormick says.

Already, he says, there is equipment available through both the ONTC and Metrolinx to get the service up and running, with more equipment available in the future for expansion of the service.

It would all be upgraded through the Ontario Northland shops in North Bay, he says.

The province also would be asked to pony up $12 million in annual operating subsidies.

“There is very little capital cost,” Gormick says. “We are only looking at an operating subsidy and a couple of million (dollars) at the most to touch up the equipment.”

Gormick says he has been in extensive contact with current and retired rail industry professionals to come up with the proposal. It will be peer-reviewed before being presented to the public.

“This is doable,” he says.

Gormick says he has received a warm reception from both senior levels of government, which have both said they see “a lot of potential” for the service.

In its final year of service, the Northlander passenger train transported about 35,000 passengers, which Gormick says is being considered the base for ridership.

“We can work with a 35,000 ridership base,” he says. “That’s pretty good.

“But this proposal is to offer better equipment, a reliable schedule and affordable fares.”

Funding for the report was made available through the Temiskaming Municipal Association and the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association.

Fedeli says the government “is committed to fulfilling its campaign commitments, including passenger rail.”

Following his re-election in June, Fedeli said the government’s priorities included restoring passenger rail service.